History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.243
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.243
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*Amātya*—The second of the seven elements of *rājya* is the *amātya*, which word may be translated as ‘minister.’ There are three words that are interchangeable though sometimes distinguished, viz. *amātya*, *saciva* and *mantrin*, the first being the oldest of the three. A Kārikā on Pāṇini (IV. 2. 104) teaches the formation of the word with the affix *tyap* (tya) from *amā* meaning ‘near or with’ (vide Mahābhāṣya, vol. II. p. 292). In Ṛg. IV. 4. 1¹³³ there is the germ of this word ‘O Agni! Go like a king riding an elephant, accompanied by his ministers’. Yāska (in Nirukta VI. 12) explains ‘amavān’ as ‘amātyavān,’ though two more explanations of the word are offered by him. The word *amātya* itself occurs in Ṛg. VII. 15. 3, but there it is an adjective and means ‘our own’ or ‘abiding in our house’. In some of the sūtras like the Baudhāyanapitṛmedhasūtra (I. 4. 13, I. 12. 7) the word amātya is used in the sense of ‘near male relations in the house’. Vide H. Dh. vol. II. p. 588 n. 1375. The word ‘amātya’ occurs in the sense of minister in Āp. Dh. S. II. 10. 25. 10 ‘The king should not live better or more luxuriously than his *gurus* (elders) and his ministers (gurūn-amātyāṁśca nātijīvet)’. The word ‘saciva’ occurs in the Ait. Br. (XII. 9) where it is said that Indra considered the Maruts as his ‘sacivas’ (helpers or comrades). The necessity of *amātyas* or *sacivas* is stated in graphic language by several writers. Kauṭilya (I.
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7 last verse) says ‘kingship is possible only with (the aid of) assistants, a single wheel cannot work (a chariot); therefore the king should appoint ministers and listen to their opinions’. Manu (VII. 55 = Śukra II. 1) says ‘it is difficult for a person single-handed to accomplish even an easy task; how can government particularly, which has great good as its aim, be accomplished without helpers’? The Matsya-purāṇa (215. 2) prescribes ‘the king, while his head is still wet with the waters of coronation, if he wants to supervise his State, should choose his helpers, as in the latter the kingdom secures stability’. Matsya 215. 3 is the same as Manu VII. 55. Vide Viṣṇudharmottara II. 24. 2-3 which are the same as Matsya 215. 2-3; also Śānti 106. 11 and Rājanītiprakāśa p. 174. From Arthaśāstra I. 7 and 8, Manu VII. 54 and 60, Kām. IV. 25, 27, XIII. 24 and 64 it appears that they use the words saciva and amātya as synonyms. Rudradāman in his Junāgadh Inscription¹³⁴ (E. I. vol. VIII. p. 36 at p. 44) states that his great enterprise to repair the Sudarśana lake was disapproved of by his advisory (mati-saciva) and executive councillors (karma-saciva) who were all endowed with the qualities required in amātyas and yet who were averse to the project and had no enthusiasm for it, since the breach to be repaired was very great.
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Here sacivas are divided into two sorts, those who give advice and those who execute the business decided upon and the word saciva seems to be a synonym of amātya. Amara¹³⁵ states that the amātya who is a *dhīsaciva* (i. e. *matisaciva*) is called a mantrin, while amātyas other than the mantrin are called karmasacivas. These distinctions are often not observed. Sumantra is called amātya in Rāmāyaṇa I. 7. 3 and the best of mantrins in I. 8. 4. In Ayodhyā 112. 17 amātya and mantrin seem to be distinguished. From Kauṭ. I. 8 (last verse) 'Having divided the spheres of their powers and having taken into consideration the time and place and the work they have to do, all these persons should be appointed as ministers (amātyas), but not as mantrins,' it follows that mantrins were regarded by Kauṭilya as of a higher grade than amātyas in general. The R. N. P. p. 178 says that the amātyas are also styled mantrins. Kauṭilya states (I. 10) how amātyas are to be tested by *upadhās* i. e. by means of tempting them as regards each of *dharma*, *artha*, *kāma*, and *bhaya* (fear) and to be employed if found honest after any one of the four tests, while *mantrins* were to be appointed only if their integrity and loyalty were proved by all the tests combined. Upadhā¹³⁶ is defined by the Nītivākyāmṛta p. 111 as 'testing the mind of a person as regards dharma, artha, kāma and bhaya by various devices' (employed by secret agents). Kāt. (4-5) quoted by R. N. P. p.
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136 states that the minds of kings always go astray on the (slightest) cause by reason of the fact that they possess great valour, knowledge, wealth and particularly the fact that they possess absolute power; therefore brāhmaṇas should always enlighten the mind of the king as to the duties of a king.